true ginger ale

this is the first glass poured so its a little cloudy and still has some chill haze...i'll repost a pic once it clears up real nice in a week or two.

2 row 11 lb
honey malt 1.5 lb

galena(11.5%) @ 60 .75 oz

ginger(fresh, sliced) @ 30 3.5 oz
ginger("") @ 15 3.5 oz
zest of 1 orange @ 10
ginger("") @ 5 3.5 oz
zest of 1 orange @ 5

s-04

OG 1052 FG 1008
EFF 73%
abv 5.8% IBU 26

this amount of ginger was really just luck. i bought all the ginger that was available at the supermarket and divided it into 3 equal additions. the ginger flavor is EXACTLY what i wanted. drinkable and not overpowering, but you def know its ginger beer. the aroma is pretty strong, which smells delicous. the flavor is perfect, with a really nice lingering spiciness. the orange zest BARELY comes through. the light grain bill is nice, with the sweetness of the honey malt in the beginning then the ginger takes over. i carbed it fairly high, probably in the 2.8-9 range im guessing. i think next time i'm going to use lemon, increase the amount and add the juice of the lemons at flameout. i also might try it without any hops. i am VERY please with this, i hit the ginger flavor dead on that i was going for

That sounds great!, I have done a few gingers , usually they are black in color and i also used orange as well, but I am sure the thing that will make it shine is the honey malt.
Good call there.

78kombi said:

That sounds great!, I have done a few gingers , usually they are black in color and i also used orange as well, but I am sure the thing that will make it shine is the honey malt.
Good call there.

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yeah i think it works really well. not much i want to change with this one, maybe mash higher next time to get some residual sweetness or use some C-malts.

I've wanted to make a spicy, light ginger beer for a while, but figured I'd just run a bunch of ginger through the juicer and add it to the keg. How well does the heat come through with this recipe?

And whose eyeballs are sitting on your kitchen table??

Trencher said:

I've wanted to make a spicy, light ginger beer for a while, but figured I'd just run a bunch of ginger through the juicer and add it to the keg. How well does the heat come through with this recipe?

And whose eyeballs are sitting on your kitchen table??

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well its not overpowering at all but its definitely there. i would say the spiciness lingers for about 5 minutes. maybe like taking a sliver or two of the thinly sliced ginger you get with sushi and eating it?

Man, that looks like I may need to give that one a try here in a few weeks, any Idea how fresh the ginger was? I have an asian market here that moves through produce real fast

I was in the local a few weeks ago and some guy was pouring little samples of a ginger infused wine he made. Let me tell you, it was different to say the least.

That's the money he could be saving with Geico...

Seriously, I've been contemplating a Ginger beer for next summer, so that's a nice reference point. Just to be clear, it's a 5 gallon batch with just 3/4 of an ounce of (pretty potent) bittering hops?

Any idea how Candied ginger would play into a beer?

Label image idea if you need one....

azscoob said:

Man, that looks like I may need to give that one a try here in a few weeks, any Idea how fresh the ginger was? I have an asian market here that moves through produce real fast

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well, i live out in the boonies so i would guess its not the freshest it can be. but, it was whole and sliced minutes before use so it was fresh from that stand point.

marshman said:

That's the money he could be saving with Geico...

Seriously, I've been contemplating a Ginger beer for next summer, so that's a nice reference point. Just to be clear, it's a 5 gallon batch with just 3/4 of an ounce of (pretty potent) bittering hops?

Any idea how Candied ginger would play into a beer?

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yeah, 5 gal with only the galena addition. next time around i might go pure ginger/malt...maybe that would leave some sweetness. when i was messing around with the idea of ginger beer i asked the same question regarding the candied ginger and i was told that it just did not contribute the same "real ginger" flavor that raw ginger does. i would stick with raw ginger.

here are a couple shots after it has cleared. i only use whirfloc, and sometimes cold crash-but not with this one.



i originally made this for my brother (he is obsessed with ginger brew ginger ale, the good stuff) but it has really grown on me. i think a little ginger in the secondary would be nice, and some citrus flavor as well.

I did a ginger infused stout back in my extract days and it was quite tasty. looking back I have no idea what my recipe was but i may have to try this one.

bendavanza said:

I did a ginger infused stout back in my extract days and it was quite tasty. looking back I have no idea what my recipe was but i may have to try this one.

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i really like it. if you want the heat, take the advice of a lot of people on the forum and add some after fermentation.

Any advice for an extract copy of this?

nystevecf said:

Any advice for an extract copy of this?

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i've never made an extract recipe on beertools so some one else might need to check this over, but this is what i came up with... and i used beer alchemy. i'm not sure how steaping honey malt will work, if it converts itself or not.

5# pale liquid (boiled 60 min)
2# amber liquid (added with 10 min left in boil)

1.5 lb honey malt (steeped for 30 min @ 150)

.75 oz galena (@11% AA)

OG 1051
IBU 27

thats for 6 gallons mind you, hope that helps!

Recipe sounds great. Did you leave the ginger in the primary or remove it after cooling before primary?

greenkp said:

Recipe sounds great. Did you leave the ginger in the primary or remove it after cooling before primary?

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removed it, i put the additions in my hop bag. next time i think i will add some to the primary after fermentation is finishing up, hopefully getting some ginger heat.

Sounds really refreshing -- this will have to go on the list for summer!

I just recently did a ginger hefeweizen. Made a hefe with 1 oz cascade @60min, and 2 oz of shredded ginger each at 60, 20, 5 mins and a 7-day "dry hop." Tastes great!